Straight Outta Ichimiya: the Appeal of a Rural Japanese Rapper 一宮から来たぞ！田舎ラッパーの魅力

Straight Outta Ichimiya: The Appeal of a Rural Japanese Rapper 一宮から来たぞ！田舎ラッパーの魅力

Noriko Manabe

spots in hip-hop showcases by the hip-hop aggregation site Amebreak, club music record store Manhattan Records, and others. What is remarkable about this acclaim is not only the 下流社会からこんにちは。オレら生 fact that his label, Mary Joy Recordings, is an きていいすか、お偉いさん? independent label without ties to the major 3 Hello from the lower classes! Do record companies, but also his origins: you mind if we go on living, proud Dengaryū is based not in Tokyo or Osaka, but elites? in his hometown in Yamanashi Prefecture, better known for Mt. Fuji than as a cradle of —Dengaryū feat. stillichimiya, hip-hop culture. He has even fashioned his "Yabee ikioi de sugee moriagaru" stage name—田我流—to recall an image of (2012) water flowing through a farm field.4

What has attracted Dengaryū and other Dengaryū (Tamura Takashi, b. 1982) is one of musicians from rural areas to hip-hop, a genre the breakout Japanese rappers of 2012. Several that originally emerged from American cities music journals, including Japan's longest- and African-American life? What aspects of his running popular music magazine,Music songs have captured the attention of other, Magazine, as well as the web journalOtotoy , mainly urban, Japanese? Having recently have anointed his second album, B kyū eiga no caught up with Dengaryū and Young-G, his yōni 2, the best hip-hop album of the year. As trackmaker5 and childhood friend, in an the music critic Futatsugi Shin wrote in his interview, I explain some of the factors behind year-end assessment inMusic Magazine, Dengaryū's appeal—his realness, engagement "[Dengaryū] throws himself full-force, dealing with current politics, and musicality—as with politics, society, the individual, music, illustrated through his lyrics, music, and hell-raising, and love—all with the same strong videos. attitude and language. An impressive, moving work"; Urata Takeshi added, "Never wavering from his real-life stance, even with political messages, he speaks of the strength and the universal from the point of view of the have- nots, sublimated into highly entertaining hip- hop."1 Fans are similarly moved by his "frank revelation and serious treatment of a flawed humankind and twisted society" with "passion and rawness," making him "more real than American rappers today."2 Not only has the rapper garnered accolades but also choice

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to hip-hop because of its "fat" beats: "In a band, the drums are light—'kakakaka!' In hip-hop, the snares are like, Gan! They make more impact. Don, don, Gan! We'd been used to listening to music with high-pitched sounds. In hip-hop, the sound of the rhythm section is very fat and heavy, low and groovy" (Dengaryū, interview, 2012).

His attraction to hip-hop was reawakened during his two-year stay in the United States, attending a two-year college in upstate New York. Dengaryū was playing in a psychedelic noise band when he became friends with an African-American student; among this friend's entourage was a hustler. As he explained,

Dengaryū, as pictured on the album cover . . . while we were hanging out of B kyū eiga no yōni 2. with [this hustler], I got to know his personal history—the conditions into which he was born Dengaryū's attraction to hip-hop and grew up. . . He taught me a lot. I came to understand Dengaryū was born and raised in Ichinomiya- something of his culture and the chō, a town of 11,000 in Yamanashi Prefecture. kind of place from where this As he was growing up in an unstable music came. For example, I came household, his grandfather encouraged him to to understand why there was such read literature, which instilled in him a love for 6 concern over money in the music words. This delight in words also attracted him and lyrics—they don't have any. in high school to hip-hop, when he and Young-G began listening to Japanese rap groups like There were a lot of guys crossing Buddha Brand. As he explained, "The words are themselves while hustling because heard very directly. . . It's really easy to hear they couldn't do anything else. them. I was really caught by the punch of the Their choices were to work for $5 words. Even words that don't have much an hour at McDonalds, go to jail, or meaning resonate—you could say them in a hustle. Here were people whose cool way. That really struck me by surprise. lives had fallen apart, who were The words have much more punch than other drinking on the streets, living on genres of music." For similar reasons, welfare. And as I came to Dengaryū was also drawn to Japanese understand these conditions, I underground folk of the 1960s and 70s, which thought, there is no other music he also considers to be "poetic expression in that strikes the heart as much as rhythmical style" as well as oppositional music hip-hop. The music was very (Dengaryū, interview with the author, 2012). positive: it was the opposite reflection of reality. They would He and Young-G, who puts together many of his take something negative and turn musical background tracks, were also attracted it into something positive. The

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power of this music was Realness: Regions and economic tremendous. They also taught me a marginality lot about [black] culture, like its classic music and films. I thought it Early works all went very deep. [Black popular culture] wasn't just about having The name of the hip-hop crew—still Ichimiya—is a protest against the government's fun. I felt I got to understand the forced merger of six towns and villages, real meaning of hip-hop. And including Ichinomiya-chō, to form the city of compared with the abstract Fuefuki-shi in 2004, as a way of saving expression of the noise music I was administrative costs and resources. The group's then making, I thought I would core members include rappers and prefer to express my thoughts trackmakers Big Ben, MMM, Maro, Yamaguchi more directly, in words. Takahiro, and Pharaoh in addition to Dengaryū (Dengaryū, interview, 2012) and Young-G. According to Dengaryū, "We had more time than we knew what to do with, and Young-G joined Dengaryū in the United States no money. We could make music for free. We for three months. The experience left him with had no other possibilities." a similar impression: stillichimiya, "Dacchi mo nee kō icchoshi," from I worked with African-Americans in Saudade making hip-hop tracks, hanging The group's raps often express pride in the out together, and living with them. area, using an ample dose of the regional . . Up until then, I had been Kōshū accent (e.g., Dacchi" mo nee kō listening mainly to Japanese rap, icchoshi" [2006], a completely new track with a although I did listen to some refrain drawn from a 1995 local hit). This local African-American rap. But over pride is also reflected in the music: e.g., all of there, we were experiencing hip- the tracks on the 2009 EP,Amaterasu hop being made under completely Ichinomiya, contains Japanese instruments, different conditions from what we kakegoe calls, references to matsuri (festivals), had previously known. After having quotes from enka, pentatonic melodies, and experienced the real hip-hop in the other sounds intended to invoke feelings of US and felt it in my gut, I was nostalgia.7 Nonetheless, the songs also depict amazed by its power and wanted to the hometown as being clearly in decline. try doing it myself more seriously. So I went back to Japan and started stillichimiya. (Young-G, stillichimiya, "Momobatake" (Peach Fields, interview, 2012) 2009)

A case in point is "Momobatake" (Peach Fields, "Another factor," added Dengaryū, "was that 2009), whose track features a shamisen and a we had more time than we knew what to do minor scale. According to Young-G, "During our with being in the countryside, without much town's festivals, the men from the money for going out to the izakaya (pub). As neighborhood often ask us to perform live. But long as you have the equipment, you can make in the countryside, our reality is an aging music for free." society of grandpas and grandmas. So we

3 11 | 5 | 1 APJ | JF decided to make songs that the elderly, too, to be built? . . . You can buy peaches at the could understand. We use Japanese rhythms of grocer's, but tell me, where can you buy a field old and a chorus with anenka -like melody. of blooming peach trees?" That's 22nd-century hip-hop." (Young-G, interview, 2012) Similarly, Dengaryū addressed the economic difficulties of the countryside in Ice" City" The musical reference to enka seems befitting (Sakuhinshū Just, 2008), describing an of the narrative of loss. The opening verse environment where downtowns have been expresses pride in Ichinomiya's place as the shuttered, and feckless youth spend their lives leading peach grower in Japan and that there in roadside chain stores: isn't a place that can match its beauty in April, when the peach trees are in bloom. But quickly ないない何もない夢も希望もチャ the villagers speak of the difficulties facing ンスもない them: 繁華街はシャッター街漂う諦めムード全開のHood へーもーかったるくてかなわんよーがとないない見出せないこの街に価値観見出せない儲からねーのに体ばかりくだびれて、パチンコ風俗飲食車抜け落ちる野良にいくのが嫌になって、あーあー文化繋がれる首輪跡継ぎもみつかんねー。病んだLocalバビロン歌う回転寿司しょうがねーらーへー年貢の納め時みたく街が回る今年で畑止めにしらだー . . . 国道沿いチェーン店の連立気がつ向かいの畑も潰れた。そして隣の畑けば一日そこで成立も諦めた。ドンキにTSUTAYAがホットスポッて！残っているのはうちだけか。寂ト惰性に生きる若者のFuct しい風が吹き抜けた。諦めにPC 携帯とTalk 働いて食っ The fields] don't serve for profits. Even though they don't make any profits, they just tire out my body. I came to dislike going to て寝て孤独 the fields. I couldn't find a successor. It couldn't be helped. The time has come. So I decided to give up the field this year. この病んだ状況ここだけだけじゃねーら The field opposite us went bankrupt, and the field next to us 地方の奴らそっちはどうだ？ gave up. Nothing, nothing, there is Hey! Our field is the only one left. nothing—no dream, no hope, no A lonely wind blows through. possibilities.

—stillichimiya, "Momobatake" Downtown is a shuttered street; (2009) the mood is of giving up; the hood's completely open.

The rappers then ask, "Is it all right for the No, no, I can't see any sense of fields to disappear and for buildings and malls values in this town.

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Pachinko, sex industry, eating and drinking, cars, disappearing culture, our collars are tied.

I'm singing of this sick Babylon,8 a city spinning like revolving sushi.9

Chain stores line up along the national highway. One day before you've noticed, there's another one.

Don Quixote10 and Tsutaya11 are the hot places. Fucked youth are living in inertia.

Looking at PCs in resignation, talking on cell phones, working, eating, and sleeping in loneliness.

This city can't be the only place in this sick condition.

You guys in the regions, how is it out there? The stage at Dengaryū's solo show, WWW, Shibuya, August 30, 2012. —Dengaryū, "Ice City" (2008)

This blunt, unadorned vision of the hometown is also presented in Saudade (2010), a film directed by Tomita Katsuya, himself a native of Yamanashi Prefecture. The plot revolves around the economic hardships of temporary contract laborers in the dwindling construction industry of Yamanashi Prefecture, as well as the ethnically inflamed conflicts that develop among the Japanese and immigrant contingents, who (in this film) hail primarily from Brazil and Thailand.12 Featured in the film is Dengaryū, who plays a contract worker and rapper whose hip-hop crew engages in a competition with a Japanese-Brazilian crew. The film, which won theMontgolfière d'Or grand prize from the Festival des 3 Continents in 2011, has gained a cult following in Japan for its realism. Its acclaim helped to raise Dengaryū's profile as a rapper.

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Japan post-3.11: Like a B-movie 2 the yakuza film Jinji naki tatakai (Battles Without Honor and Humanity, dir. Fukasaku Back to the basic,俺たちって何 Kinji, 1973) serve as transitions between だ？Back to the basic 音楽って何だ？ individual tracks on the album. These tracks are vignettes that reveal Dengaryū's post-3.11 政治って何だ？真実って何だ？絆っ consciousness: て何だ？日本人って何だ？

愛って何だ？生きるって何だ？何だ？ After [the triple disaster of] March 何だ？ 11, I thought, what's going to happen to Japan? What do we need Back to the basics: who are we? to do to make this country recover? Back to the basics: what is music? I thought about these questions a lot, but there's no simple answer . . What is government? What is . I conceptualized that a nation is truth? What are human bonds? formed by the aggregation of What does it mean to be Japanese? individuals. The problems of the What is love? What does it mean to nation affect each individual. So I live? What is it? What is it? wanted to examine the mentality of individuals—their truths, their lies, —Dengaryū, "Resurrection" (2012) their crimes. I focused on the viewpoint of individuals in order to reflect present-day society. What is During 2011 whenSaudade was gaining necessary, from the point of view recognition, Dengaryū was working on his of each individual, in order to live? second album, B kyū eiga no yōni 2. (Like a B I wanted to analyze Japan's Movie 2, 2012). The album is framed around condition today—the micro and the concept of a B-movie: macro ideas, the very private thoughts, the large-scale issues—in my own manner and make music It's not as if I'm living an A-level out of it. (Dengaryū, interview, kind of life. My life is more like a 2012) B-movie. B-movies have a certain flavor of their own. They're not brilliant, and you might even say, Hence, some songs address highly personal "What the hell is this?" But issues with universal themes, such as loneliness whoever makes them is doing their ("Lonely). "Happy Life" presents three familiar best to make them. They may be characters in Japanese society—a college rubbish, but they're trying their student enjoying a last bit of hedonism, a damndest to make them. There are freeter hanging out in convenience stores and lots of great B movies. I personally clubs, and a salaryman leading a workaday life like them. (Dengaryū, interview, unappreciated by his boss or his wife. 2012) Dengaryū explains that none of these characters is truly happy, and that his underlying message is that one shouldn't take Short samples from B-movies and television for granted the media's messages of what shows, such as the British science-fiction constitutes happiness but to take control of television series Thunderbirds (1965–66) and one's own life. And for all the despair expressed

6 11 | 5 | 1 APJ | JF on the album (as noted below), it climaxes on Dengaryū is apparently role-playing a fantasy an optimistic note with "Ano kane o narasu no of vigilante justice, kidnapping and torturing wa ore" (I'm the One Who Rings that Bell), with unnamed brokers of nuclear power, whom he its message of self-determination and hope. As accuses of being "tricksters who used the several fans noted, "After all [the turbulence], it media." The track is clearly inspired by the leaves you with a warm feeling . . . just like a Joker in the Batman filmThe Dark Knight movie."13 (2008), but it also includes references to Slim Shady, American rapper Eminem's evil alter Political engagement ego.16 Indeed, the sound effects and premise of kidnapping (as well as voice-acting skill) An arresting aspect of Dengaryū's album is the remind this writer of two Eminem songs: the directness with which he expresses his feelings car sounds echo "'97 Bonnie and Clyde" (1998), regarding the 3.11 disaster. His anger, while the narrative of verbal abuse and the presumably at the Nuclear Village—the tight- threat of violence is reminiscent of Kim" " knit group of bureaucrats, politicians, and (2000).17 Like "Kim," the verse ends chillingly. industry executives who allowed nuclear power After the last line, to proliferate and are still pressing for the continuation of nuclear power—is perhaps at its rawest in "Panic Game." The third verse opens 庶民なめんな、これでもくらえ。 with the sounds of squealing tires, a car door slamming, and the muffled mumblings of Don't underestimate the common someone apparently gagged. Dengaryū raps: people. Eat this!

あの宗教みたいに奴らを拉致って、 the musical background suddenly drops out, 大好きなプルトニウムお口にぶち込 followed by the sound of an object hitting the む。[Take this, motherfucker! floor; Dengaryū laughs, as if in the Joker persona. お味の方はいかがでしょうか？Why 口裂いて笑わす。 so serious? A less visceral but equally direct response is "Ai no teema" (Theme of Love). A melancholy track 一億３千万の怒りが生んだ気まぐれのモンスター、俺はお前だ。 is interspersed with a commentary that is made to sound like a call-in talk radio show: Abduct those guys like that religious cult, and ram the 今年の言葉が絆です、とこれ見た瞬 plutonium they so love down their 間で私は、ああ、その自分勝手で冷 throats. 酷で居るか、日本人に。偽善て言う

Take this, motherfucker! 事まで加わったと。。。

How does it taste? Why so serious? From the moment I saw, "The word Tear their mouths and make them of this year is 'kizuna' (human smile.14 bonds)," I thought, is it enough to call the Japanese selfish and cold- I'm the monster of whim, born of blooded? Things had reached the the anger of 130 million.15 point where the adjective "hypocritical" must also be added. . —Dengaryū, "Panic Game" (2012) .

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この一年間の震災の後の動きは、も俺は言うこと聞くようなおめこじゃう、どう考えても、日本人は根本的ね〜ぞ。にだめだって言う事を証明した。。。これだけ大きな大震災があって、で Ore wa yūkoto kikuyōna omeko ja それを助けようとしない。つまり、 neezo 日本人は非常に冷酷選民になってて、自己的で、現状の分析がちゃんとで I'm not the kind of cunt who'll きない民族だって言う事が、まあ、 listen to what you say. 表明された訳ですね。

No matter how one thinks about The line is a harsher variation of the veteran what has happened in this year rapper ECD's refrain, where the common words since the earthquake, it proved are shown underlined: that the Japanese are fundamentally useless. . . Such a 言うこと聞くような奴らじゃねーぞ。 big earthquake, and they don't try to help. In other words, it showed Yūkoto kikuyōna yatsura ja neezo. that the Japanese have become cold-blooded elitists, a selfish race We're not the kind of guys who'll that cannot properly analyze the listen to what you say. present situation.

--Dengaryū, "Ai no teema" (2012) This line had originated in a retort from a protester who was being arrested at a demonstration against the war in Iraq in 2003. This track serves as the lead-in to Straight" Having overheard it, ECD developed it into a Outta 138." The title contains multiple full-length rap and performed it at post- references—Los Angeles rap crew NWA's demonstration parties; it became the anthem of "Straight Outta Compton" (1988); National antiwar protests that year. Dengaryū had seen Highway 138, which runs through Yamanashi videos of ECD's performances from this period. Prefecture; and Dengaryū's hometown,Recognizing the hommage, he invited ECD to represented as a Japanese reading of the write the final verse for the track. number, Ichimiya. One sleepless night, Dengaryū sent a long email to Young-G describing a rap of all the things that angered I thought it would be interesting to him about the Japanese system. After Young-G have him in my song because he is laid down the beats, Dengaryū recorded two of a different generation—he is verses where he spits out these frustrations: twenty years older than me—and the lack of opportunities, self-serving his way of thinking is completely politicians ("You always say, 'it's for the different. . . And the resulting lyric country,' but it's for yourselves, you traitors"), was so persuasive. It made me the media serving as propaganda, the outdated think, "He's totally right." It made entertainment law (fūeihō) that is shutting me think about how I am going to down nightclubs, the inflexibility of the live in the future, and it educational system, and the dependent posture encouraged me. It's the kind of toward the United States, among other issues. collaboration that you have to do. He quickly came up with the refrain: (Dengaryū, interview, 2012)

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As ECD was busy at the time recording his own himself, use it to describe the official album (as well as working and caring for a announcements from the government and family), the two rappers did not meet in a Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) on the nuclear studio but instead exchanged recordings over crisis (ECD, interview with the author, 2011). the Internet. A frequent participant inHence, ECD is saying that the officials' antinuclear demonstrations, ECD fashioned a obfuscation of the dangers of nuclear power verse that was a call to action among citizens. and the accident mirror the military's handling This stance is made clear in his revision to the of information during World War II. Most of all, original refrain: ECD calls for citizens to make their voices heard—"sign petitions, vote, demonstrate." It's a call that needs reinforcement in a country 言うこと聞かせる番だ、俺たちが where according to surveys in mid-2012, 90 Yūkoto kikaseru ban da, oretachi percent of citizens wanted no nuclear power, ga yet the government has been moving toward restarting nuclear power plants. It's our turn to make them listen to what we say. いうこというこというこというこということ聞かせる番だ俺たちが。 ECD's verse is crammed with urgent, 黙ったまんまじゃ殺される、 provocative appeals ("If we stay silent, we'll be killed") and references to both the present 国が人の住めない土地に変えたん situation and the past. Referring to the だ。。。 radiation from the Fukushima accident that has made areas of northeastern Japan 人が死ぬのをわかっててやめない。 uninhabitable, he echoes many Japanese citizens' fears that radiation will eventually 反対すると非国民あつかい。 compromise people's health and that another なんかに似てる、とにかく狂ってる。 accident could happen elsewhere. He expresses his anger toward the disdain conservative 67年前のボロ負けで終わったはず factions show to antinuclear protesters, quoting のあの戦争を the hikokumin (traitor) insult that they hurl at demonstrators. ECD also underlines his alarm 続けたかったやつらの夢。 by tying the nuclear situation to World War II, suggesting nuclear energy feeds the power それが原発だ間違いねー。だから fantasies of older politicians. But as he もうとっくの時代おくれ。 indicates ("the situation resembles 署名投票デモンストレーション、 something"), he is also drawing a parallel between the war and the nuclear crisis. During いうこと聞かせる番だ俺たちが。 World War II, the media, which was controlled by the military government, disseminated It's our turn to make them listen to daihon'ei happyō (official announcements from what we say. Imperial Headquarters), which minimized reported damage and even reported military If we stay silent, we'll be killed. defeats as victories. Today, the term means a completely untrustworthy official The nation has converted the land announcement; many Japanese, including ECD to be uninhabitable by humans. . .

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They know people will die, but they people. I want them to grow into won't stop. the sort of people who, when they reach a point when they must ask If you oppose [nuclear power], they themselves, "What are we going to treat you like traitors. do?" they are able to say, "Let's follow this path," in their own way. The situation resembles There's too little expression of something—anyway, it's crazy. one's own opinions. (Dengaryū, It's the dream of those guys who interview, 2012) wanted to keep fighting that war

that should have ended with our The rap outlines several reasons why citizens, crushing defeat sixty-seven years and young people in particular, should ago. overcome their apathy and vote. Dengaryū notes that "Japan's fortunes are sinking" and That's nuclear power; no doubt that the country is "in a dangerous position." about it. It was already outdated He then encourages young people to vote, long ago. . . because politicians will make a series of dangerous decisions while one isn't paying Sign petitions, vote, demonstrate. attention, pointing out that not voting is the same as giving a vote to a bad politician. He It's our turn to make them listen to also encourages people to vote on their own what we say. opinions rather than the recommendations of organized groups: —"Straight Outta 138," Dengaryū, ECD's verse (2012) ちょっとお前、選挙どうすんの？ This call for greater political participation あそこの何何さん、内に仕事くれる among citizens is also expressed in Dengaryū's から "Senkyo ni ikō" (Let's Go Vote, 2012), which he released a few days before the recent Lower お前あの党に一票。 House election. As he explains, 地方によくある、これは組織票。

There are surprisingly few people ちょっと待って、少し考えて。 who have been communicating their opinions. . . I think what's そのマニフェスト君は知ってる？ important is that people have their own opinions. It doesn't matter if マジで危険な事言ってる。 the opinion is right or wrong. To 可能性、大有り、チェックしろ、 make public one's opinion takes everybody。 much courage. By having an opinion about one issue, you'll 考えずに入れたその一票、 enlighten yourself and others. I think that's the most important 未来の人たち苦しめるかも。 aspect. . . I want to represent truthfully the opinions of young きらきら輝く子供の未来、

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陰らしゃいけない、大人の責任。 do our best. I'd be delighted if a bit of something becomes material for someone else." Hey you, how are you voting in the (Dengaryū, interview, 2012) election? "Mad pop" music That guy—he's going to give us work, Another aspect that has helped Dengaryū's appeal is the musicality of the background So you vote for that party. tracks. Young-G has drawn them from an This is organized voting; there's a admirable variety of sources—enka, traditional lot of it in the regions. music, psychedelic rock, jazz, classic hip-hop, and symphonic soundtracks, as well as movie Wait a minute! Think a little. clips, in keeping with the album's theme. The two of them are particularly skilled at creating Do you know that party's platform? catchy choruses: with its repeated words, simple melody, and background vocals, the Everybody, check it out. It's very chorus for "Lonely" invites audiences to sing likely that along. But equally, choruses that are not sung That vote you cast without much draw in the audience. For example, "Ano kane o thought narasu no wa ore" consists of the simple chord sequence, /Db-Eb-/Fm---/Db-Cm7-/Fm---/,18 with May cause suffering for the people loops recurring throughout the of the future. song—synthesizer lines of various timbres, plucked and bowed violins, and drums. With It is the adult's responsibility to these few materials, Young-G effectively make sure modulates the pacing of the verses, choosing We don't darken the brightly among these loops to best accompany shining future of children. Dengaryū's lyrics; e.g., he cuts out much of the track at the beginning of the second verse as —Dengaryū, "Senkyo ni ikō" Dengaryū addresses his mother, and in the middle of the third verse at the words, "All the world is in slow motion." To lead more It is worth noting that in "Senkyo ni ikō," dramatically into the chorus, the track is first Dengaryū is not telling his listenershow to made tacit, followed by a fat /F-G-/ pickup on vote, but simply to vote; as he explains, "I think brass-like synthesizers that build to thetutti the smoothest approach [to political activity in climax of a memorable chorus. Over this track, hip-hop] is to take something that is a bit Dengaryū raps musically, using higher pitch to difficult, chew on it in your head, and deliver it emphasize words (e.g., "BA-ka daze," "hip-hop in an easy-to-understand way through music. Taking care that you avoid putting too much of ni ni-a-UU"). In the final line of the chorus, he your own impressions in the song, but you still stresses the key word "ore" (I) on downbeats, communicate what needs to be communicated." driving home the message of the song: Nonetheless, he seems willing to help some causes: "It's a strange era. If what you are thinking is the same as what I'm thinking, I'd say, let's work alone, and with each other, and

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The song is very effective in live performance, ______, interview with the author, where it evokes an excited reaction from the Tokyo, December 21, 2012. crowd, who shout along to the chorus. ECD, interview with the author, Tokyo, Similarly, "Senkyo ni ikō" features the catchy December 22, 2011. loop from Gang Starr's "Words I Manifest"19 (1989), itself sampled from Charlie Parker and ____, conversation with the author, Tokyo, July Miles Davis' "Night in Tunisia" (1946), to which 29, 2012. Dengaryū and Young-G have added a catchy Discography chorus that invites the listener to sing along. Dengaryū. Sakuhinshū Just. 2008. Tōgen Hibiki Dengaryū says of this catchiness: "We want to Records. make something that is both bad20 and pop. For example, if you make something that's a bit too Dengaryū. B kyū eiga no yōni 2. 2012. Mary Joy hardcore, it becomes difficult to communicate a Recordings, MJCD-059. message, wasting your rebel gesture. It might be better to make it poppy in order to increase Stillichimiya. One Peach. 2006. Tōgen Hibiki that music's ability to communicate—make it Records. mad pop." He points to veteran hip-hop group Scha Dara Parr as masters of this ability to ______. Amaterasu Ichinomiya. 2009. Mary combine catchy music with thoughtful,Joy Recordings, MJCD-049. comprehensible lyrics. Noriko Manabe is an Assistant Professor in the It is also this combination of infectious music Department of Music and Associated Faculty in with conscious lyrics—so relevant to Japan the Department of East Asian Studies at Princeton University, where she teaches today, and delivered in a raw, passionate style courses in popular music and ethnomusicology. —that makes Dengaryū a notable presence in She has published articles on Japanese rap, hip-hop. While being personally rooted in his mobile music, and Cuban music, and has rural community, he speaks of a socio-economic articles in press on Japanese hip-hop DJs, marginality that resonates with the experiences wartime children's songs, and online radio. She of youth throughout Japan, many of whom have is currently preparing monographs on musical faced difficulties finding satisfying employment. subcultures in Japan (rock, hip-hop, reggae, His frank assessment of post-3.11 Japan is not dance music), the history of Japanese children's only an expression of anger and despair; it is songs, and music and the Japanese antinuclear also coupled with calls for people to participate movement. Information about her work can be actively in their future, beginning with found here. expressing one's own opinions. And as we enter into another period of LDP rule, we wonder Recommended citation: Noriko Manabe, with Dengaryū whether hip-hop—an important "Straight Outta Ichimiya: The Appeal of a Rural voice for the Japanese outsider—will take a Japanese Rapper," The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. further turn to nationalistic conservatism or if 11, Issue 5, No. 1, February 4, 2013. its stance as "rebel music" will prevail. Articles on related themes: Interviews • Noriko Manabe, The No Nukes 2012 Concert Dengaryū and Young-G, conversation with the and the Role of Musicians in the Anti-Nuclear author, Tokyo, August 30, 2012. Movement

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•David McNeill, Ryuichi SAKAMOTO:From records are typically discussed on blogs and Bach to Rock to Pop . . . and the Fate of the web magazines, then audiophile magazines like Corporate Earth Music Magazine; they are distributed over the Internet and in large record stores such as •Piers Williamson, Largest Demonstrations in Tower Records Japan, which continues to be an Half a Century Protest the Restart of Japanese important outlet for underground music in Nuclear Power Plants Japan.

•Artists Hong-An Truong and Elin O'Hara 4 This stage name is based on the sound of the Slavick, War, Memory, the Artist and The Chinese-style reading of the artist's birth name, Politics of Language 田村隆 ("Den-son-ryū")。

•James E. Roberson, Songs of War and Peace: 5 A trackmaker is a person who assembles the Music and Memory in Okinawa background musical track to a hip-hop song.

•Laura Hein and Nobuko Tanaka,Brushing 6 "Dengaryū: B kyū eiga no yōni 2," interview by With Authority: The Life and Art of Tomiyama Yūtaman, Riddim Online, June 6, 2012. Taeko 7 They do not include quotes of local traditional •Jamie Doucette and Robert Prey,Between melodies per se, but are meant to invoke their Migrant and Minjung: The Changing Face of memory. (Young-G, interview) Migrant Cultural Activism in Korea 8 Babylon is a Rastafari term describing an •Tomoko OTAKE, Music as Weapon: Ainu oppressive institution or system. musician fights for cultural survival 9 A reference tokaiten sushi-ya—a cheap 1 Urata Takeshi and Futatsugi Shin, "[Tokushū] restaurant where sushi is served on a revolving Besuto arubamu 2012: Rappu/Hippu Hoppu conveyor belt. (Nihon)," Myūjikku Magajin (January 2013). 10 Discount store chain. 2 MPC0306, August 9, 2012, "2012 nen saikō no 11 sakuhin," comment on "B kyū eiga no yōni," DVD/CD retail and rental chain. Amazon.co.jp. 12 There are also references to a Chinese 3 Several rappers, like Zeebra and Seeda, migrant population in stillichimiya and currently record, or have previously recorded, Dengaryū's tracks. Dengaryū's "Ramen" (2008) under major labels. Other rap groups have features a Chinese-sounding musical track and the words, "Xie xie," while stillichimiya's recorded on subsidiary labels of major record "Yabee ikiyoi de sugee moriagaru" (2012) companies; e.g., Scha Dara Parr and Rhymester contains the words, 我们漫游一官地区，你们一 came to prominence in the 1990s while 起来吧。 recording for Ki-oon Records and File Records, both subsidiary labels of Sony. It is worth 13 MPC0306, op.cit.; see also DJ Homerun, "'B noting that four of Urata and Futatsugi's top kyū eiga no yōni 2' o kiita," April 11, 2012. five hip-hop albums were recorded on independent labels, while the fifth was14 In Dark Knight, the Joker recounts that he recorded on P-Vine, a long-running small label scarred his own face into a permanent smile. wholly owned by the CATV/Satellite channel Space Shower Networks. Underground hip-hop 15 The population of Japan.

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16 Shady is named in the first verse. songs.

17 In Eminem's "'97 Bonnie and Clyde" (1998), 18 The "/" is indicative of a measure bar, while the protagonist loads the body of his murdered each chord symbol or "-" is indicative of a wife into the trunk of a car and dumps it into a quarter note. lake, all the while talking to his toddler daughter; the track contains many car-related 19 In the rap, Dengaryū takes advantage of the sounds. "Kim" (2000) is its prequel, in which he multiple meanings of "manifesuto" in Japanese: shouts verbal abuse to his wife and murders a political party's platform as well as a her. See Steen K. Nielsen, "Wife Murder as declaration. Child's Game," Danish Yearbook of Musicology 34 (2007): 31–46, for an analysis of Eminem's 20 i.e., good.